


First Night

by AuroraRebellion



Category: Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken | Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Genre: Bonus points for another fic where my favorite knights make a cameo too whoops, Gen, New Year's Eve, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 06:50:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,345
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17259554
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraRebellion/pseuds/AuroraRebellion
Summary: “It's tradition to stay up to greet the new year! Have you never done it before?”Marth frowns.“Usually, Elice and I have a glass of cider together in her room, then I go to bed…”Merric was smiling, but now he's grinning as he tugs Marth along a little faster.“Then tonight's the first night you'll stay up!"-A new year's fic, taking place a few years before the events of Shadow Dragon.





	First Night

It's the last night before the new year, and Merric currently is squished up next to Marth's side, as the two of them hide from Merric's nanny.

“Lord Merric! Where are you?”

Marth begins to wonder whether it's really right to hide from her, but Merric takes his hand and squeezes so tight he understands. He's not going to give his best friend away, even if he doesn't quite get why Merric would rather be without miss Hazel.

Hazel's footsteps fade down the corridor, and Merric lets out the breath he's been holding with a huff.

“There. She's gone. C'mon, let's go see what everyone's doing tonight.”

Merric pulls him along, and Marth responds as they go:

“Won't most people be asleep…? We're up very late…”

“It's tradition to stay up to greet the new year! Have you never done it before?”

Marth frowns.

“Usually, Elice and I have a glass of cider together in her room, then I go to bed…”

Merric was smiling, but now he's grinning as he tugs Marth along a little faster.

“Then tonight's the first night you'll stay up! Come on, let's find princess Elice.”

Marth isn't given much more time to try to respond, as Merric takes off, quietly heading down corridor after corridor.

They find Elice walking down the hall, Captain Heila close at her side. She smiles in greeting.

“Good evening! Merric, your nursemaid was here a moment ago… She's looking for you.”

“Oh, right, um, we… got seperated.”

Merric fidgets uncomfortably, and a knowing look forms on Elice's face.

“Well, we'll just have to find her as we go, won't we? Come along.”

Merric is uncertain, and this time it's Marth who leads Merric as he slips his free hand into Elice's, and they all walk down the hall.

“Lady Elice?” Merric questions, “Where are we going?”

“Outside, to the training yard,” Elice replies, and smiles over at Captain Heila. “How could anyone object to us all getting some fresh air? And we're all safe with you around, Captain.”

Heila sighs, and allows all of this with something that’s in the middle between a nod and a bow. Elice giggles.

“Thank you, Heila.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

“So, we're going to the training yard?” Merric asks. Elice nods.

“Yes, we're going to the training yard. We should see if it's overcast or not- it's cold enough, the stars should be beautiful.”

“Lady Elice, you all should put on something warmer if you're going to spend much time outside.”

“Oh, yes, of course! My apologies, I didn't even think of coats. Thank you Heila.”

Elice leads them down a different path, towards her chambers.

“We'll each get ourselves a coat, _then_ we'll go outside.”

She opens the door to her room, steps inside, and still brings Marth and Merric along as she walks over to the closet.

“I’ll admit, my coats and cloaks will be a bit big on you two,” she says, “But they’ll be warm. Here, Marth,” -she passes a fur coat to Marth, one he recognizes as a little small for her, but it reaches down to his mid-thigh- “And this one,” -a second coat, slightly heavier but about the same length- “is for Merric.”

“And for you, my Lady?”

“Aw, Heila, do you think I’m going to try to get away without something warm?”

“To be fair, Your Highness, I’ve known you since you were roughly five.”

Elice laughs, and pulls out a coat that fits her properly, slinging it about her shoulders before turning and helping Marth button up his coat. Merric steps away before she can help him, mumbling, “No, I can do it.” She waits, and allows him to get it buttoned himself.

“Now, we’re ready,” she announces, once Merric's coat is fastened shut. She takes Marth’s hand, and Marth takes Merric's, and Captain Heila holds open the door for the three of them with an approving nod in Elice’s direction.

Merric hesitates for a moment, steps faltering as he walks.

“Captain, isn’t that axe heavy?”

Marth, for the first time, properly notes the axe slung across Heila’s back. It’s always been there, and given Heila is a retainer, he’s never thought twice about the weapon.

Heila smiles.

“For you, it might be, Sir, but I’ve carried it with me for years.”

“Captain Heila is very good with an axe,” Elice boasts.

“Thank you, my Lady.”

Marth doesn’t think he’s ever seen that axe in use before, thank goodness. Though he’s never really seen the Captain training with others, either. Perhaps it’s not needed, when you’re good enough to be Elice’s retainer. Jagen doesn’t seem to train much for his own sake, either.

Elice pauses, and holds up her free hand. Footsteps pass, down a hallway nearby, and then fade. Merric giggles.

“This feels like some secret mission,” he whispers to Marth. “Like we’re knights, invading a bad guy’s castle!”

“Or a spy mission,” Marth whispers back. He realizes Heila is watching him though, and flushes. He’s getting a little carried away…

“Oh, what intelligence are we collecting?” Merric asks, entirely unconcerned about Heila’s eyes on him. Marth frowns.

“We’re seeing if the training yard is empty or not,” Elice fills in. An idea clicks in Marth’s head.

“We’ll see what the knights here do for training,” he adds. Merric nods excitedly.

“And if we’re caught, we’ll run away through a secret passageway! There are secret passageways, right? All good castles have one!”

Elice laughs, warm and bright like a candle.

“They do in books, but I’m not sure our castle has any,” she says. Merric deflates slightly.

“We’ll just have to make one,” he grumbles. This makes Marth laugh, at which Merric brightens again.

“But either way, we’re almost there, right?”

“Just through these doors,” Elice assures. Heila steps forward, and pushes one of the large wooden doors open.

The sound of steel against steel drifts through the now open doorway. Merric huddles close to Marth.

“The training yard isn’t empty,” he reports. “Time to collect intelligence!”

“We’ll play it casual,” Elice commands. “If we don’t blow our cover, they’ll never suspect a thing.”

Marth nods solemnly, though he keeps smiling. “Understood, Elice.”

She beams, and sweeps through the door.

In the yard, Marth is fairly certain he recognizes the people here. There’s some of the newer knights- specifically, the three brothers, Cain, Abel, and Seth. He remembers the one with red hair (was that Abel? Now he’s getting their names confused) saying a lot of words he had to ask Elice about, and the one with green hair did a lot of yelling… And the one with purple hair who didn’t speak much. Two of the three (the green and the red) are sparring, and the third is practising with a bow.

Then there’s Frey, seated on a bench across the yard. Marth isn’t sure from this distance, but he thinks Frey might be asleep.

“Good evening, Your Highnesses, Lord Merric,” someone greets. Marth and Merric both jolt, but Marth soon recognizes the voice, and he most certainly knows the figure of the knight who has spoken.

“Good evening, Jagen,” Elice replies. “Lovely night, isn’t it?”

Jagen inclines his head.

“As lovely as it can be, Your Highness. What brings you here?”

“We wanted some fresh air. And to see the stars- this yard is one of the best places to see the constellation of Anri, this time of year.”

“I see. I will let the others know not to be in your way.”

“Oh, thank you, Jagen.”

“Of course, my Lady.”

Jagen walks over to the knights.

“Cain, Abel,” he calls. Green pauses first, and then yelps as a strike from Red is pulled too late and hits him anyways.

“Hey, watch it! Sir Jagen is talking to us!”

“Sorry, but you could’ve moved…”

“Excuse me,” Jagen interrupts sharply. Both of them start. “Princess Elice, Prince Marth, and Lord Merric are here to stargaze. Be sure not to disturb them.”

“Yes, Sir,” Green replies. “Cain,” (so Red is Cain, Marth notes, which means Green is Abel) “You heard him. Don’t go running into them or anything.”

“ _You’re_ the only one I’d want to hit,” Cain counters. Abel glares.

Merric, meanwhile, sighs as he watches the one with purple hair (Seth, because the other two aren’t Seth, Marth deduces) sends an arrow flying into the center of a target.

“I still wish I could be a knight,” he murmurs.

“Aren’t you going to study at Khadein?” Marth asks. This cheers Merric considerably.

“That’s true! I’m going to be one of the only Altean mages in the court, once I finish my studies! But you have to admit, knights are pretty cool.”

Merric goes back to watching, though much happier than a moment before. Marth, though he knows perhaps he shouldn’t, listens in as he and Elice and Merric pass by Jagen and the other two knights.

“It’s only what, two hours to midnight?” Abel is saying. “I still can’t believe you dragged Seth and I out here in the middle of the night…”

“You were awake anyways!” Cain counters. “But hey, Sir Jagen, shouldn't you like, be in bed?”

“Are you insinuating I'm a tired old man with an early bedtime, Cain?”

Abel snickers, while Cain hesitates.

“No, Sir?”

“Well, you wouldn’t have been entirely wrong if you were. But I’m not about to rest until you all are heading to bed.”

“Why not, Sir Jagen?” Abel asks.

Jagen says something quieter, something Marth doesn’t catch anything past the beginning “ _Naga knows_ ,” but when the sentence is done Abel’s eyes go wide, and Cain exclaims, whirling around.

“Sir Frey!” He shouts. Frey was, as Marth suspected, asleep, for he starts and looks around.

“What-? What did I miss?”

“Sir Jagen said a swearword! Right in front of Lord Marth and Lady Elice!”

Frey takes a few moments to respond. He still seems half-asleep.

“Oh he did, did he? Did Their Highnesses hear?”

“I didn’t,” Elice says. “Marth?”

Marth shakes his head.

“I didn’t either!” Merric says.

“Then, that's that. All is well.”

Abel leans over to Cain.

“You should take notes,” he mutters. Cain fakes a jab at Abel’s side, which makes him flinch away accordingly.

“It was _once,_ ” Cain grumbles.

“It was the first time you spoke to Lord Marth in person!” Abel cries. The shrieking indignance in his voice is almost nostalgic, given it was Marth’s first impression of the knight in green. “Seth remembers, too!”

Seth pauses, lets his bowstring go slack, and looks back.

“Don’t pull me into that,” he calls. Cain and Abel fall into a quiet back-and-forth, which quickly becomes background noise as they walk to the other side of the training yard.

Elice nudges Marth’s side, and once she has his attention she points up at the sky.

“Do you see Anri, up there?” She asks. Marth squints up, trying to pick out the stars he’s supposed to be looking for apart from the many, many others.

Five stars form the shape of Falchion in Anri’s hand, and his hair flows behind him- that’s how the constellation had been explained.

“I think I see it,” he says. Merric beside him gasps.

“I do too! I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so clearly except in my astronomy book!”

Elice giggles, still looking up.

“Do you recognize any others?” She prompts. Merric hums in thought, while Marth silently scans the stars.

“Oh!” Merric cries, “I think I see the Arrow! It shoots North, which means North is…”

He spins on his heel, and points. “That way!”

“Very good, Merric,” Elice praises. “What about you, Marth?”

Marth tries to recall all the constellations he’s learned. Anri, the Arrow, Iote’s Lance… Oh, there’s the Kettle, too. He knows where that one is, and points.

“That’s the Kettle, isn’t it?”

Elice beams.

“Excellent! Do you know the legends behind each of those?”

Marth is certain he’s learned those at some point, but he shakes his head.

“Then let’s go inside, and I’ll tell you them over tea. Sound good?”

“Oh, can we have that one kind from Gra?” Merric asks, “Please, Princess Elice?”

“Of course! It’s the dawn of a new year- of course you can have your favorite tea. Come along, then.”

Elice leads them along back inside, with Heila holding the door for them all again. Merric once more stares at the axe on Heila’s back, just for a moment, and Marth notes something else about it: it’s very finely crafted, with detailing along the hilt and grip and along the blade itself. No wonder Merric keeps staring.

They go back to Elice’s room, and a maid fetches the kettle, and they settle down on her bed with teacups for her to tell them the stories behind each constellation. First of Anri, then of the Arrow, and finally the Kettle.

...The Kettle is rather mundane. It’s just because it looks like a kettle with steam rising out of it.

The clock in the room chimes, startling Marth from his thoughts, and he looks up to see Elice smiling.

“Do you know what that means?” She asks. Marth and Merric both stare, and she smiles.

“It’s the new year!”

Merric gasps, and throws his arms around Marth.

“Happy new year!” He shouts. Marth, after a moment of being stunned, laughs and returns the hug, only to laugh even harder when Elice pulls the both of him into her arms.

“Happy new year, you two,” she giggles. “Now, we’ll go and have a glass of cider, then we’ll go to bed, okay?”

“Aw, Princess Elice,” Merric whines, and squirms from her grip. “Do we have to?”

“For Captain Heila’s sake, I’m going to say yes.”

“I don’t think Captain Heila cares!”

“That’s…! ...Honestly true. I think the Captain is used to this sort of thing. Still, let’s go get ourselves each a glass of cider.”

She slides off the bed, and once Marth and Merric are on their feet as well, she takes each of their hands and leads them off to the kitchen.

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to 2019 folks! I'm kicking it off with Fire Emblem.  
> (Also, another note! Captain Heila here belongs to a Lozy, friend of mine- they're 'yonch' on tumblr and they're cool.)


End file.
